(CP) – Authorities in India are reportedly now requiring employees of foreign-funded nonprofits to sign notarized affidavits saying they will not engage in religious conversion. India’s Home Ministry announced Monday restrictive amendments to the Foreigners Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), according to the Economic Times. The new requirement comes about two years after the Christian child sponsorship organization Compassion International was forced out of the country over a crackdown on foreign aid. India’s Ministry of Home Affairs announced that each member or functionary of a
nongovernmental organization will need to file an affidavit attested by a notary declaring that they have not been involved in any act of religious conversion or prosecuted for communal disharmony. Previous rules required only top office-bearers to give an affidavit when seeking public grants. The Catholic news outlet Asia News reports that advocacy groups fear that the new rules are meant to target Christian ministries that serve the poor and marginalized. The head of India’s Home Ministry, Amit Shah, is also the president of the Hindu nationalist-aligned Bharatiya Janata Party. READ MORE